We haven't learned anything from Jurassic Park. Don't mess with what's dead. Bad things will happen. Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray have a new spin on this topic with their upcoming graphic novella Retrovirus. The book focuses on Dr. Zoe Wallace, a preeminent member in the field of viral evolution. She's called in by one of the largest bio-pharmaceutical companies - aptly called "Bio-Pharm" - to research a prehistoric virus from a genuine Neanderthal. Deep within the Antarctic compound, she finds more than just a frozen dead guy.

"The fun of working on a project like this is looking at the set-up from a point of view like our character Zoe and putting all the pieces, together with her along the way," said Palmiotti. "With every turn the story gets deeper and deeper and more out of control, and like most of the work Justin and I do together, the challenge is to always keep the characters grounded in the madness around them so the reader can relate to every twist and turn."

"I always feel the best fiction is propelled by themes, and with Retrovirus there are a number of personal themes that arose in and around the time we began working on this project," added Gray. "Zoe represents motherhood, survival, determination and our core humanity when presented with terrifying situations. We wanted not only to create a story full of big scary action, but also something people could relate to."

Click image to enlarge

Palmiotti and Gray are frequent collaborators. They know what they're doing when they want to tell a story. Retrovirus looks to be an interesting comic. There's a small part of me that hopes that it's Jurassic Park meets Encino Man, but somehow I don't think that's going to be the case. Sorry, Pauly Shore fans...all three of you.

Anyway, Retrovirus will be illustrated by Norberto Fernandez and will feature a cover from Amanda Connor (featured above). It's a 72 page graphic novella and will be in stores on November 21st, 2012.

James has a 2nd grade reading level and, as a result, only reads books with pictures. Horror is his 5th favorite genre right after romantic comedy and just before silent films. No one knows why he's here, but he won't leave.